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Monday, March 24, 2008

BJORK SPEAKS HER MIND

I can't front and act like I'm the biggest Bjork fan in the world. I kind of like some of the songs on Debut and Post, but that's about it. But I do respect her as an artist - hell, she's practically her own genre. She doesn't conform to anything, and always follows her own muse. And she speaks her mind.

Which seems to have gotten her a bit of attention lately (although internet reports have probably blown this a bit out of proportion). She recently performed in China, and, apparently, said, "Tibet, Tibet," from the stage. I saw Bjork at the Tibetan Freedom concert a few years ago, and those concerts were really great, not just for the music, but for really educating and informing Americans about the plight of Tibet. Read more about it at FreeTibet.org.

Anyway, the Chinese government got all bent about it of course, but here's what Bjork told The Lipster about it.

“When I said "Tibet, Tibet", I whispered it three times. There was no fuss in the room. It happened afterwards on websites. It shows more than anything that China has become the next superpower in the world. And the issue is: how are they going to deal with Western moral issues like freedom of speech? China said, ‘It's obvious Björk planned a trip to China with the purpose of political propaganda gathering… and I was like, no! It's not true! It's a question of [them] sensationalising it.”

This isn't a political web site, but Bjork asks a good question here. And that, in my opinion, is what artists should be doing.

About Me

Who's on tour? What are they playing? Who's still in the band these days? What's on that box set? Don't I have all of that stuff already? That's the stuff NO EXPIRATION sorts out for you. So you don't end up being the loudmouth at the Neil Young show who yells out "Heart Of Gold" when he's only doing garage rock with Crazy Horse. Or you're not the person complaining at George Clinton's shows because Bootsy isn't there (but odds are, he won't be there). You get the idea - I'll let you know what's up, and you won't have to weed through stories about lame celebs or (many) bands you haven't heard of.